The technical scope of the invention is that of hand tooling to mount tracks with pre-angled connectors onto vehicles, such as tanks or other tracked vehicles.
The installation of tracks onto a vehicle, called track laying, is often an operation that is both complicated and dangerous. Indeed, tracks with pre-angled connectors used in particular on armored vehicles pose a real problem of installation. Such a track, when opened out and laid on the ground, finds its ends raised from the ground at a height that hinders the track-laying operation. Indeed, the pre-angled connectors at the end of the track exert a pre-angulation tending to raise its ends. In this configuration and with no human intervention to lower them, the vehicle is not able to be engaged without damaging the track. Moreover, the immediate proximity of an operator during the track-laying operation presents a significant risk, indeed should the track break this would cause the propulsion of certain of its elements. It would thus appear necessary to have a system that does not require human intervention.
The aim of the present invention is thus to provide a device to carry out the track-laying operation without human intervention, by holding the ends of the tracks at ground level thereby allowing the vehicle to engage.
The invention thus relates to a track-laying assistance device to hold at ground-level a raised end of an opened track having pre-angled connectors, wherein it comprises a first element fastened to the part of the track held to the ground and a second mobile element able to be dismounted with respect to said first element and able to push back to ground-level a raised end of the track to allow the vehicle to engage in it.
According to a characteristic of the invention, the second element comprises a lever pivoting with respect to the first element and means to push down the track.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the lever presses on the end of the track and on a shaft integral with the first element.
According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the means to push down the track are of the mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic type connecting the lever to the first element.
According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the mechanical means to push down the track is constituted by a screw, a pivoting nut and a tightening nut.
According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the first element comprises two flanges, one upper and one lower, connected together by two bolts to block the first element with respect to the track.
According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the lower flange incorporates housings in which the pre-angled connectors of the track are fitted in order to immobilize them with respect to the flanges.
The upper flange is formed so as to accommodate firstly the shaft around which the lever pivots and secondly the means to push down the track.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the assembly formed by:
the part of the track held at ground-level,
the raised end of the track, and
the track-laying assistance device,
exerts a greater torque than that of the last pre-angled connector immobilized with respect to the flanges.
A first advantage of the device according to the invention lies in its facilitating the track-laying operation whilst minimizing any possible risk.
Another advantage lies in the substantial reduction in the cost and time required to install the track.
Another advantage lies in the fact that this device, light and of reduced bulk, can be stored in a breakdown tank or in the vehicle itself.
Another advantage lies in the fact that this device can be adapted to different types of tracks.